Egypt’s cotton exports reduced by 38.4 per cent between June and August, the fourth quarter of the agricultural season 2016-17, standing at 3,276 tonnes compared with around 5,733 tonnes in the same period last year. India was the top country importing Egyptian cotton during that period, with almost 1,474 tonnes, representing 41.5 per cent of exports.
The drop was attributed to a decline in the area of cultivated cotton, according to the quarterly report of Egypt’s government statistics agency CAMPAS.
The total consumption of domestic cotton was 1,761 tonnes during that period, compared to some 4,832 tonnes in the same period last year, representing a 62.8 per cent decrease, an Egyptian daily reported.
In July, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi held a meeting with the prime minister as well as the ministers of agriculture and trade and the public enterprise sector to discuss ways of boosting the cotton industry.
The textile and spinning industry contributes with up to 26.4 per cent to industrial production, trade ministry data show.
